NYC TRI

What a great weekend. Got to hang out with my friends and race in the Big Apple. Going into the race I was a little worried that my Achilles would not be able to handle the effort needed to achieve my goal of Top 3 Elite and qualify for the Toyota Cup in Dallas.

Fast forward to race morning, my taper and patience's paid off. (Thanks Dirk !) Walking over to the start just before 4am, I felt really good. I was rocking out to U2 in the streets of New York watching the drunks leave the bars. After I set up my transition, I headed to my swim start for my wave time of 5:54am. It was my first time ever doing a dive start, the pontoon was rocking as we stood still and it was a decent drop down into the water. I actually got a good start then within a second the fun began, as the guy next to or behind me landed right on me and there were legs and arms flying everywhere. But I was in the mix and fighting a good fight. I jumped out of the water in 15:44. I could hear Heather shouting "3mins down". My Achilles hurt on the long run to Transition but I just stayed relaxed and focused on my task ahead. The Aria was sitting pretty and looking ready to go hunting. Straight out of Transition the path was narrow and I got struck behind some guys on the first turn leading into the hill. But really got going when I hit the highway. At the first turn around (12miles) I could see a big group ahead of me about 30 seconds up. It was honestly like they were riding in the Tour. I caught them within the next mile and shared my disapproval of their drafting. But looking at the results afterward the refs did give out penalties. So I hope it was to these dudes. I feel bad for James Burns he was at the front of the group and it was clear they were sitting on him when I passed. But he got 6:00mins. Crazy. I caught Justin Harris around 17 miles and he was moving good like Columbia. We had a little bit of a battle for a few miles, then I picked up the pace around 22 miles. At the 2nd turn around I saw Duffy (last yr winning and Toyota Cup Champ). He was less than a min up the road, I pushed the last hill really hard and I was rolling so fast I missed the sharp turn that lead us back down to the path to Transition. I was basically heading put the course again ! Damn Robbie turn around 'what are you doin ?' was my thoughts. I had to cut across people coming out of T1 and it cost me about 30secs. Funny now looking back and my buddy Zac got some good photos of it. I will post them as soon as I get them. I reached T2 and got in and out as fast as I could, 45secs in fact. I knew he was up the road and I had to chase on 75-80% legs. The Achilles didn't feel too bad and thanks to Robert Gillanders my PT, I was not compensating with my running form. At mi 3 I caught Duffy and picked my pace for about 1/2mile and looks after I knew he was out of the race and shut it down to save my Achilles. It was a great feeling to cross the line and hear Heather and Zac shout your the winner.
I had a good time catching up with Justin Harris and some of the other guys after the race. Always good to hear how the other got on after the race.
Now its time to work harder and be ready to race for the cup down in the Big D.

Thanks to all my friends for their support and guidance the past 2 weeks.
See you all on the road, in the pool, on the track or the trials.

Cheers,

Robbie

What amazing weather we have got the last 2 days here in DC, looks like it will continue for the 4th July weekend. DC is the place to be for the best fireworks show in the country. I can't wait !

Training has been going well this week. Still trying to increase the swimming. If you focus on your weakness you will be a stronger athlete. I'm lucky to have one of the best coaches around to work with, his name is John Flanagan. John is such a charismatic man and pushes us hard while keeping it fun. Thanks to my friend Linda Kennedy, I joined John's masters program last June. We swim at Hains Point's 50m outdoor pool.

Anyway here is a run down of what I have been doing this week:
Monday:
AM Bike 30 mi, 2X7 mi effort on MacArthur. Still Hot. Faster than 40k race pace.
25mins CORE after.
PM Run: 8.8 mi, with Bert. Nice and easy. After the rain, so it was humid.

Tuesday:
AM Swim: 3200m main set of 2x300,4x50,2x200,8x50,2x100,12x50.
PM Bike: 23 mi, Contes Hill Ride. Lots of hill riding with the roadies around the Hills of Arlington.
Run: 8 mi, 10x400m with Garret my new track workout man. 74-60. 200 jog between.

Wednesday:
AM Run: 6.2 mi, nice and easy around Roosevelt Island. Start of the nice weather !
PM Swim: 2000y main workout was 1000y T.T. 15:05. Pleased with the effort. heading in
the right direction. Lots of work left.

Thursday:
AM Swim: 3000m, main set 2x50,100-200-300-400-2x50,100,200. Then 500 T.T in 8:07. Tired this morning . John set me the goal or breaking 8:20. Now as Dirk says 10secs a month improvement.
PM Run: 5mi real easy around Roosevelt.

As for the rest of this week. I will run our race tomorrow: http://www.independence5000.com/
Use it for some speed work really. More swimming and another effort on the Dolan to get ready for NYC Tri on July 18th.

Finally good luck to my boy Bryan Keane at the European Triathlon Championships which is been held in Athone Ireland.
Europe's Best Set to Battle for Continental Crown in Athlone | Triathlon.org - International Triathlon Union